Last night at one minute past midnight, free agents became available to all teams. That means free agent market has been open for nine hours or so. It usually takes a bit longer than that for the hot stove to truly heat up, and there will be some buzz on Monday when the GM Meetings kick off in Orlando. That’s usually an opportunity to lay some groundwork and get some face-to-face discussions rolling. The Winter Meetings — when things truly heat up — don’t start for another five weeks.

It’s still going to be quiet for a while, but we’ve made it to the point when signings and game-changing decisions are entirely possible. And with a roster full of holes, the Yankees are in for an interesting winter. It’s quite literally just getting started.

And, by the way, the finalist for the Baseball Writers Association of America Awards are being announced tonight on MLB Network. That means the MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, all of that good stuff. That announcement begins at 6 p.m. ET.